Dr. Kresin is one of the kindest lecturers at UCLA. She is very attentive to the needs of each of her students and does her best to challenge us while meeting us where we are at. She also gives lots of opportunities to do serious projects in Russian (great for work samples if you are looking for jobs that require another language!), get official awards for your work, and engage with the Russian-speaking community beyond UCLA. You can tell she really believes in her students' potential for success, in Russian or otherwise. So, so much fun throughout the year taking Russian 101ABC, both with the small class setting (if you prefer that format) and getting to be part of this department. There will often be challenging moments, as there always is with learning another language, but your Russian will improve so much with Dr. Kresin. By the end of this class series, you will be more confident reading, writing, and speaking spontaneously about more complicated topics. Can't recommend Dr. Kresin (and this department) enough for those who are looking to learn another language and get usable skills out of it.